Restraining Government in America and Around the World

Savage New York Post Column on How Obama Economic Policy Is Causing Global Concern

I have a column in today’s New York Post, where I pull no punches as I comment on how the rest of the world is increasingly worried about Obama’s policies of easy money and deficit spending. I note that other nations often are guilty of the same mistakes, but that’s no excuse for America sinking to that level.

Along with countries such as Germany, Brazil and South Africa, China’s worried that President Obama and Bernanke will destabilize the global economy by dumping too much money into the system. This distorts trade, creates bubbles and may prompt other nations to engage in similar devaluations. The fact that China is probably guilty of the same thing doesn’t change the fact that America is on the wrong path. …The monetary move is isn’t the only Obama policy causing unease around the globe. Having seen the destructive impact of too much deficit spending in nations such as Greece, Ireland and Spain, policymakers worldwide increasingly recognize that countries need to reduce the burden of government spending to prevent a spread of sovereign-debt crises. Nations such as Germany and the United Kingdom haven’t approached this issue in the best way. Too often, they’re using the fiscal crisis as an excuse to raise taxes rather than make long-overdue reductions in bloated budgets. But at least they recognize that the time has come to back away from the abyss of too much red ink. The United States, by contrast, is on a spending binge of historic proportions. …Some of these fears are overblown. Yes, the Bush-Obama years have dramatically boosted the burden of government, and one obvious symptom of this fiscal excess is a much bigger national debt. But America’s red ink, as a share of GDP, is lower than the comparable levels in many European nations, as well as Japan. But that’s hardly an excuse. We all tell our kids that their friends’ misbehavior is no excuse for them to the wrong thing as well. This is a good rule for the global economy. If China is keeping its currency artificially weak, that doesn’t mean we should do the same thing. If European nations have bigger governments and more debt, that doesn’t mean we should copy their mistakes.

2 Responses

When the US engages in currency manipulation (even when it claims that this is not the intent – just the major consequence perhaps?) it does not undo Chinese currency manipulation. It simply makes things worse by going from having one economic distortion (Chinese manipulation) to two (Chinese plus American manipulation).

The US, or any country for that matter, in the longer term, benefits from free trade and stable monetary policy, even if unilateral. Protectionism and one size fits all central planning, in most cases, ultimately hurts the protected and centrally planned themselves the most.

The US, or any country for that matter, in the longer term, benefits from free trade and stable monetary policy, even if unilateral. Protectionism and one size fits all central planning, in most cases, ultimately hurts the protected and centrally planned themselves the most.